MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Timberwolves' zone defense
has been tough early this season, but the Cleveland Cavaliers
found ways to beat it.

Andre Miller had 29 points and 11 assists as the Cavaliers
handed the Timberwolves their first loss of the season, 107-103.

Minnesota's matchup zone had given opponents plenty of trouble,
holding four of six opponents under 90 points.

But Miller and Cleveland had few problems against the zone.
Matched against former Cavalier Terrell Brandon, Miller was able
to penetrate for several easy baskets.

"We've playing well on the road," Miller said. "It was a great
effort by everybody. Everybody came in and stepped up. They
weren't hitting their shots from the perimeter and we were
taking advantage of it on the break a little bit."

"This was probably good for us tonight," Brandon said. "It
taught us that we need to move the ball inside more. We missed
a lot of shots that we haven't been missing."

It appeared early that the Cavs were on their way to another
blowout loss. The Timberwolves scored the game's first eight
points, but Cleveland regrouped after a timeout.

With the game tied, 29-29, just under three minutes into the
second quarter, the Cavs started a 10-1 run that opened a 39-30
lead 5:14 before halftime.

In fact, Cleveland coach John Lucas decided to try and beat the
Timberwolves at their own game by employing several variations
of the zone. The strategy worked as Minnesota shot just 3-of-19
in the quarter.

"They came out in a zone at us right away," Minnesota forward
Joe Smith said. "We knew that if we were not able to get the
ball in the middle or through the seams, it would be tough. We
didn't figure out how to break the zone until late in the game."

The Timberwolves had four players in double figures but shot
just 35 percent from the perimeter (6-of-17).

Kevin Garnett led Minnesota with 28 points on 8-of-12 shooting
and Smith added 17 on 6-of-12 from the floor.

"Our game plan was to keep them off rhythm, mixing in the zone,
with a man and a triangle-and-two and box-and-one," Lucas said.

"I think we surprised them," Cavs forward Lamond Murray said.
"We hit them with their own medicine, we put a zone on them. We
played the zone on them and I think it took them out of a lot of
things they wanted to do, especially early on in the game. And
I think that was the difference."

The Timberwolves never led by more than four points. The lead
changed hands nine times in the fourth quarter before Cleveland
went ahead for good, 101-98, on Murray's driving layup and free
throw with 32.8 seconds remaining.

"We ran the 1-3 pick and roll," Murray said. "I didn't know
what they were going to do, most likely trap. But they rotated
late and I just drove to the basket trying to get to the foul
line, and I hit the `and one.' It was a good play on my part at
the end."

Two free throws by Ricky Davis increased the lead to 103-98 with
19.8 seconds to play.

Wally Szczerbiak drilled a 22-foot jumper on Minnesota's next
possession to cut the deficit to three points, but the Cavs made
four straight free throws to seal the victory.

"We grew up tonight," Lucas said. "This was a good win against
the team playing the best basketball in the league. I thought
our resilience was the difference tonight."